Shenzhen to subsidize buyer of BYD hybrid car

Shanghai, May 15 (Gasgoo.com) South China's Shenzhen city is to subsidize buyers of its local automaker BYD’s hybrid cars as the central government has jumped on the hybrid bandwagon with incentive policies, China Business News said recently.

While most of the central government's subsidies for hybrids and other new-energy vehicles are aimed for corporate or public purchases of such vehicles, Shenzhen is going further by offering subsidies to consumers.

According to China's new-energy vehicle incentive plan, a subsidy of up to 50,000 yuan ($7,320) will be offered to the buyer of a hybrid vehicle, and a subsidy of up to 60,000 yuan is available to the buyer of an all-electric vehicle.

Reportedly, Shenzhen city will hand out higher subsidies. For example, a Shenzhen resident who buys the 149,800 yuan BYD F3 Dual Mode (F3DM) car in the city will get a 60% subsidy, or nearly 90,000 yuan, from the local government. Currently, a 20% subsidy is offered for hybrid purchases in the United States.

BYD Auto has also revealed that its F3DM car is being bought largely by companies and government agencies, but the automaker plans to promote the plug-in hybrid vehicle to private buyers.

Southwest China's Chongqing city is also to provide subsidies for buyers of hybrid vehicles. The local buyer of a 140,000 yuan Junjie hybrid car made by the city's carmaker Changan Auto can get a subsidy of 36,000 yuan and is exempt from road and bridge tolls (about 7,000 yuan) for three years.